Appleās iPhone Air Hits Chinaās eSIM Wall, Again!
Apple boldly announced the iPhone Air preorder blitz for mainland China set for 8AM ET today, September 9, 2025āonly to hit the soul-crushing regulatory eSIM brick wall. The Air, famed for rocking an eSIM-only design worldwide, sadly sparked dĆ©jĆ vu in China where eSIMs are practically mythical creatures, never widely adopted. The three other iPhone 17 variants (17, 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max), lovingly crafted without eSIM for China, are happily preordering and shipping from next week. After a throwback āChina Unicom-onlyā support saga, Appleās scrambled regulatory dance now awaits China Mobile and China Telecomās eSIM blessings. Meanwhile, Beijing micromanages as Apple promises it's āworking closelyā with the overlords to lift the eSIM curse. Spoiler: This is less Apple Air, more Apple Airplane modeāstill grounded.
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Apple tried to Air-drop the first eSIM-only iPhone in China but hit Chinaās firewall of regulatory nope. Spoiler: The Air is not getting cellular wings anytime soonāor at least not without a Beijing stamp of death.
Face it: Apple making the iPhone Air eSIM-only in China is like selling space heaters in the Saharaātechnologically innovative but slightly ignoring local realities.
The iPhone Airās China launch delay is basically Apple saying, 'We invented the futureānow letās wait for Beijing to catch up, maybe by 2030.ā
Source: Theverge | Published: 9/12/2025 | Author: Dominic Preston
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